Exercise is a Pain
Jacob Teitelbaum M.D. Offers Tips for the Weekend Warrior in his new book Pain Free 1-2-3
NEW YORK - Spring 2006 – Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a marathon runner, pain is always a hop, skip and jog away. But the rewards of getting in shape far outweigh the temporary discomfort.
“When you feel the burn the morning after a workout it simply means that you asked your muscles to use more energy than they possessed,” explains board certified internist and pain expert Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, author of the newly published Pain Free 1-2-3! A Proven Program for Eliminating Chronic Pain Now (McGraw-Hill, April 2006). “Overdraw your muscle energy account and the body manufactures lactic acid which is responsible for the stiffness you feel,” he says. “Nutritional support with supplements such as Ribose, B Vitamins, Magnesium, Malic Acid, CoQ10, and Carnitine feeds the muscles, making it easy to condition long term with less pain. Studies also show that enzymes can decrease inflammation after a marathon.” Dr. Teitelbaum’s book offers natural strategies to eliminate pain of all kinds and optimize health and well-being.
Exercise is also the great pain antidote. “Endorphins created during exercise are the body’s natural codeine, which increase mobility and exercise can even help ward off arthritis ,” explains Dr. Teitelbaum, who developed with Enzymatic Therapy, Inc., the End Pain formula and the popular energy product Fatigued to Fantastic sold in health food stores. “Exercise in the sun and you super-charge the benefits from the Vitamin D produced on your skin, which raises serotonin levels and decreases pain,” he says. “Another reason to exercise is that it promotes weight loss, which means less wear and tear on the joints.”
Pain Free 1-2-3 explores natural anti-inflammatory botanicals like boswellia and willow bark, which may be taken before or after exercise to mitigate pain. “These plant products avoid the risk of stomach ulcers and GI bleeding common to pharmaceutical NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors,” says Dr. Teitelbaum.
“Sleep is the flip-side of exercise. It enables growth hormone or GH to repair the body and mend micro-tears in the muscles. I prescribe natural muscle relaxants like hops, wild lettuce, Jamaican dogwood, valerian, theanine and passion flower to ensure good sleep without any groggy side effects, for those that need it.” Teitelbaum notes that for optimal health and overcoming pain, a person should sleep a full 8 to 9 hours every night, rather than the customary 5 or 6.
According to Dr. Teitelbaum, one other exercise that increases growth hormone is commonly overlooked. “Sex is the ultimate health-promoting and life-affirming exercise. It provides a powerful workout, and triggers a cascade of euphoric, youth-enhancing bio-chemicals that override pain and make you feel and look younger.
